Non-Silicate Minerals

What is the main difference between silicate and non-silicate minerals?

What is the primary reason limestone was mined by settlers in Central Kansas?

What is the composition of carbonates?

What is the most abundant carbonate?

What was the environment in which limestone was formed in Kansas?

What is the chemical formula for calcite?

What is the name of the rocks that calcite is a major constituent in?

What is the process that leads to the formation of stalagmites and stalactites in caves?

What is the main component of stony coral?

What is gypsum an example of?

Why does Kansas have significant deposits of halite?

What is the molecular formula for halite?

At what percentage of sea water evaporation does gypsum form and settle out of solution?

What would you expect to encounter first when drilling into the seabed of the Mediterranean Sea?

What is the significance of the huge beds of halite and gypsum in the floor of the Mediterranean Sea?

Most of the earth's crust is composed of silicate minerals, but several non-silicate minerals are of great importance.
Silicon and oxygen comprise over half of the earth's crust by weight.

Carbonates are composed of the carbonate anion (CO3-2) and one or more cations, such as calcium or magnesium.
The most abundant carbonate is calcite (CaCO3), also known as calcium carbonate.
Calcite is the major constituent in limestone and marble.
Limestone is formed from sediments in a marine environment.
Examples of limestone structures include stalagmites and stalactites, and stony coral.

Halite, or common table salt, is an example of a halide, a mineral formed with a halide anion (fluoride, bromide, chloride, or iodide).
The molecular formula for halite is sodium chloride (NaCl).
Halite is formed from the sediments of evaporated sea water.
Huge beds of halite and gypsum exist in the floor of the Mediterranean Sea, indicating that the sea has been relatively dry in the past.
As sea water evaporates, gypsum forms and settles out of solution when 65% of the water has evaporated, and halite forms and settles out of solution when 90% of the water has evaporated.